


Private Party

by Mikauzoran



Series: Lukadrien June 2020 [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is a Lightweight for Affection, Aged-Up (18 and 20), Brief Mild Implied Sexual Content, Coming of Age, Emotional Support, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Growing Up, Hurt/Comfort, Lukadrien June 2020, Lukadrien June 2020 Day Seventeen: Heart Song, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, Self-Discovery, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Snuggling, Talking, lukadrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24779206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikauzoran/pseuds/Mikauzoran
Summary: Luka has always admired the seemingly unattainable Adrien in secret, but when Luka runs into Adrien feeling displaced and alone at his class’s graduation party, the walls between them come down, and Luka learns that he’s not the only one who’s been pining.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine
Series: Lukadrien June 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1781776
Comments: 24
Kudos: 200





	Private Party

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome! Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Mikau.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story!
> 
> Come find me on Tumblr: https://mikauzoran.tumblr.com/

Luka was kind of sick of chaperoning a boat full of drunk teenagers.

Anarka was throwing Juleka and her classmates a raging party to celebrate their graduation from high school (for some reason that Luka couldn’t wrap his head around).

Juleka was more of an introvert than Luka himself. _Juleka_ had not requested this drunken saturnalia. In fact, Juleka had retired with Rose to Rose’s cabin half an hour prior, leaving Anarka to party almost as hard as some of the sloshed teenagers in question and Luka to be the adult.

As usual.

Luka was kind of _really_ sick of chaperoning a boat full of drunk teenagers.

At midnight, he headed below deck for a break from the vomit and the smell of beer and the people in various stages of undress who were making out in every available corner.

Coming into the main cabin, he was surprised to see Adrien Agreste sitting at the counter, staring miserably down into an almost full plastic cup.

Adrien’s head jerked up when he heard Luka (though, Luka wasn’t sure how Adrien _had_ over the pounding bass of the music abovedeck), and Adrien hastily pasted on a factitious grin.

“Hey,” he greeted, raising a hand to wave awkwardly, looking like he’d been caught doing something wrong. “Great party.”

Luka grimaced. “Not when you have to supervise a bunch of eighteen-year-old babies who can’t hold their liquor.” The bitter words slipped between Luka’s lips before he could think about how they’d be received.

Adrien blanched, pupils turning to dots before he quickly broke eye contact, gripping the cup with both hands a little tighter as his shoulders inched up to meet his ears, curling in on himself defensively.

“Oh,” he whispered, mortified at being an eighteen-year-old baby who could not hold his liquor and visibly wishing he could stop existing. “Yeah. Sorry. I’m sure that sucks.”

Luka cursed, smacking himself on the forehead before making his way over to sit on the stool beside Adrien’s.

“Hey.” He reached out and rested a hand on Adrien’s forearm, making the younger boy jump. “I’m sorry, Adrien. I didn’t mean _you_. You are fine. You’re welcome here anytime.”

“Oh.” Adrien uncurled slightly, sneaking a glance at Luka. “Uh…thanks. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry,” Luka repeated, releasing Adrien’s arm as he turned on the stool to face him, propping one elbow up on the counter. “I just get tired of always being the responsible one in my family. My mom acts, like, a quarter of her age, and Juleka…I love her, but she’s just a kid, and she’s got so much to learn. She tries, but she’s not always ready to deal with the real world, so…most of the time, I end up having to take care of things…. It’s been like that since I was ten,” Luka added for context.

Adrien winced.

“I just get tired sometimes,” Luka sighed.

Adrien nodded as if he could relate, trying to fake his way through the conversation. He didn’t want Luka to see what a kid Adrien still was too.

Thinking it’d make him look cool and mature, Adrien took a sip from his cup.

The beer still tasted like dirt, and Adrien choked, further humiliating himself in front of his amazing, grown-up friend.

Luka patted him on the back, giving him a sympathetic smile. “You’re not really a drinker, are you?”

Flames rose in Adrien’s cheeks, and tears beaded in the corners of his eyes as they watered from the choking incident. “I _am_ ,” Adrien insisted too eagerly. “I-I have wine and champagne at dinner parties all the time.”

He hoped that would make him sound sophisticated.

Luka’s sympathetic smile turned indulgent, and it was obvious that Adrien wasn’t fooling Luka.

Adrien’s face fell, and his blush reddened. “I should-I should go. I just came down for some fresh air real quick. I need to go before someone misses me.”

He started to get up, but Luka took hold of his arm, insisting gently, “Stay.”

Adrien stopped in the middle of standing and stared at Luka like a thief caught red-handed.

“You’re not having fun at the party,” Luka explained. “I didn’t mean to take your hiding spot away from you. I’m sorry. You should stay.”

Adrien sank back down onto the bar stool with a disheartened sigh, glaring petulantly at the cup of beer. “I’m having fun. I’m having a lot of fun.”

“You _were_ having fun _earlier_ ,” Luka corrected. “I saw you dancing with Nino and Alya, and you looked like you were having a good time. The second hour, after everyone had gotten some alcohol in their system…”

Adrien squirmed uncomfortably. “I’m having a good time just like everybody else. I’m drinking. I _was_ dancing. I just…I needed a break, but this is an awesome party,” he repeated the words he’d heard Nino and the others saying all night, “and I’m having a lot of fun just like everybody else.”

Luka wanted to ask him why his heart’s song was such a tangled mess if he were truly having a good time. As it was, Adrien’s song sounded downright [serial](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serialism) with its crazy, [nontonal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wmvX_RVvjk) intervals and dissonant chords not seeming to harmonize with the melody or ever resolve. Luka couldn’t even discern a key area.

“It’s okay,” Luka assured gently, as if coaxing a scared dog. “Parties aren’t my scene either. Not everyone can be like my mother, and that’s okay. You don’t _have_ to be having fun.”

Adrien looked up and studied Luka tentatively, not sure how much to open up. “…Beer is really nasty,” he decided to start with.

Luka nodded, confirming, “Beer is nasty.”

Adrien turned on his stool to face Luka, nervously continuing the conversation, “Then…why do people drink it? And, I mean, everyone seemed to just chug it, but I thought you were supposed to sip alcohol and taste all the different notes so you could make some comment about the bouquet and impress everyone with how poetically you could describe it.”

Luka bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, lest Adrien take it the wrong way. “First off, you’re thinking of wine tasting. Maybe people do that for artisanal vodka or craft beer, but the stuff that everyone up there is drinking is the cheap stuff, so it’s just straight up nasty.”

Adrien’s eyebrows came to meet one another in a deep V of confusion. “Why would anyone drink cheap beer if it doesn’t taste good?”

Luka patted Adrien on the shoulder, finding his naiveté charming. “Most people drink beer to get drunk, not for the tasting experience, and being able to achieve drunkenness for less money is definitely a draw for a lot of people.”

Adrien nodded, beginning to understand. “So…being drunk is fun?”

Luka held out a hand, palm down, and wiggled it from side to side. “Can’t say I’d recommend it, but some people do enjoy it…at least _while_ they’re drunk. The aftermath of waking up in your own vomit next to someone you don’t know is not fun in the least—not that I’m speaking from my own experience,” Luka quickly cleared that up before Adrien got the wrong idea. “I have friends in uni who are messes.”

“Oh,” Adrien chuckled nervously in relief.

“Hangovers are also not fun, and, here, I _am_ speaking from experience,” Luka advised.

Adrien gave a thoughtful hum. “Okay. Thanks. I wonder what the draw is, then.”

Luka shrugged. “…Would you want to find out?”

Adrien startled, giving Luka a curious, cautious look. “…What did you have in mind?”

“I could make you a drink that tastes better than that swill you have in your cup and make sure you don’t get into any trouble while intoxicated,” Luka offered.

Adrien pursed his lips, considering. “How intoxicated are we talking?”

Luka shook his head. “Not very. Just a little tipsy. We’re not aiming to get you written up in some trashy tabloid or anything.”

Adrien nodded. “All right. That sounds okay. What kind of drink are you making me?”

Luka got up and went around the counter into the kitchen, opening the liquor cabinet. “Depends. Do you have any idea what you like?”

Adrien shook his head. “To be honest, I haven’t even liked any of the wines I’ve tasted, so I’m thinking that I just don’t like alcohol.”

Luka nodded as he fished around in the cabinet, taking Adrien’s feedback into account. “Then we probably want something where you can’t taste the alcohol. Maybe something dessert-y?”

Adrien perked up. “Dessert is my favourite.”

Luka snickered, spotting the crème de menthe. “How do you feel about mint chocolate chip ice cream?”

“I’ve only had it a couple times, but it was great. I really liked it,” Adrien replied earnestly, and Luka made a mental note to take the kid out for ice cream sometime.

“Okay. I’m going to make you a Flying Grasshopper,” Luka decided, pulling out the crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and vanilla vodka as well as the cocktail shaker and a martini glass.

From the fridge, he grabbed the creamer and the chocolate syrup. He pulled out the freezer drawer of the fridge and scooped some ice into the shaker.

Adrien watched, mesmerized, as Luka drizzled some chocolate syrup around the inside of the martini glass and then measured and poured the alcohols and creamer into the shaker.

“You’re really good at that,” Adrien observed in a hushed, awed tone. “I mean, you’re really graceful; you make it look like a dance.”

Luka smirked, a pleased blush flooding his cheeks. “Thank you. It comes with practice. I’ve been bartending for extra cash ever since I could pass for eighteen. Before that, I was the unofficial mixologist in the family.”

“Does bartending pay well?” Adrien wondered before remembering that that wasn’t the kind of thing you were supposed to say aloud.

Luka just shrugged, not seeming to care as he finished shaking the drink and began to pour the green, creamy liquid into the glass. “Not bad. Not good, but not bad. It really all depends on the tips.” Luka looked up with a devious smile. “You know what the secret is?”

Adrien leaned in on the counter. “What?”

“You get better tips if you flirt with your customers.” Luka winked, setting the glass down in front of Adrien.

Adrien’s heartrate doubled. He could hear his pulse beating in his ears as he watched Luka clean up.

Wetting his lips, he replied in what he hoped was a coy tone, “I bet you get a lot of tips.”

Luka laughed, turning to put the bottles back into the liquor cabinet. “I’m not everyone’s cup of tea…or, rather, shot of tequila. I do okay, but I’d do better if I looked like you.”

Adrien gulped, wondering if that was Luka personally calling Adrien attractive or Luka acknowledging that the rest of the world preferred someone with Adrien’s looks.

“I would tip you,” Adrien responded, but it came out a little too earnest, missing the “flirty” mark he’d been shooting for.

Luka turned back around wearing an amused smile and an arched eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”

Adrien dropped his gaze down into his drink and shrugged. “Well…yeah.”

“Hn,” Luka hummed in interest. “Good to know.”

“Sorry,” Adrien quickly spit out. “I know you were just kidding around. I didn’t mean to make things awkward.”

Luka came back over to Adrien’s side and rested a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder.

Adrien looked up into a warm, affectionate smile.

“No worries,” Luka assured. “Nothing’s awkward. I appreciate the compliment. Seriously. It always feels good to know that someone you think of as attractive also thinks you’re attractive.”

“Oh,” Adrien whispered, feeling his skin catch fire where Luka’s hand rested. “Good.”

Luka patted him on the shoulder, pulling away with an easy smile and going back to cleaning up, leaving Adrien to think about how Luka had just told him that he thought Adrien was attractive.

It made Adrien’s stomach feel all funny in a kind of achy, tingly way that was usually reserved for Ladybug, Marinette, and Kagami.

Though…this wasn’t the first time Luka had made Adrien’s heart and stomach flutter. Far from it. Luka had sent Adrien into a full-flung sexuality crisis the summer after Adrien turned sixteen. Adrien had marked it down as a fluke since no other boys had ever had that effect on him, but…Adrien had never quite been able to master the way Luka made him feel.

Mentally cursing, Adrien took a sip of the Flying Grasshopper.

His eyes widened in astonishment. “This tastes like a milkshake.”

Luka chuckled as he surreptitiously watched Adrien downing his drink eagerly. “Don’t drink it too fast. There _is_ vodka in there.”

Obediently, Adrien slowed down, sipping more reservedly at the remaining half of his beverage.

Luka finished cleaning up as Adrien nursed his drink, both keenly aware of the other’s eyes sneaking glances.

The thought that maybe this really cool, mature guy saw something in Adrien made him feel giddy. He squirmed a bit as his skin started to itch and his pants began to feel slightly uncomfortable.

Amazing people didn’t usually return Adrien’s feelings.

Adrien couldn’t think of a reason why they should.

Luka came back around the counter to sit on the stool next to Adrien’s, his body turned to face him.

Adrien looked up, angling himself toward Luka.

Luka stifled a laugh that made Adrien’s heart plummet and then pointed to his upper lip. “You’ve got a little something.”

Adrien blinked, tongue whipping out before he could think twice.

Luka’s eyes tracked the motion, and, unthinkingly, he licked his own lips, pupils dilating.

Adrien’s heart did a little happy dance because Luka Couffaine was definitely interested in him.

“Did I get it?” Adrien inquired coyly, running his tongue back over his lip a second time.

Luka looked away, clearing his throat and mentally chiding himself to behave. “Yeah,” he answered distractedly. “So…hey. Where are your friends? Is _everybody_ drunk? Why’d I find you down here hiding by yourself?”

Adrien tried to conceal his disappointment in this change of subject matter. He took another gulp of his Flying Grasshopper and shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much. Nino and Alya were making out in the…um…control room?”

“Bridge,” Luka supplied.

“Bridge,” Adrien echoed, nodding. “In the bridge—on the bridge?—last time I checked. They asked if I wanted to join them, but I figured they were too drunk to consent, and I don’t actually want to get involved in some kind of threesome with two of my best friends, even if the physical affection would be nice.”

Luka stored this information away for later in case he saw an opening to be physically affectionate with Adrien.

“I figured Marinette and I would be sober buddies tonight,” Adrien went on, “but she’s more of a partier than I thought.”

Luka raised an eyebrow. Even though things with Marinette hadn’t worked out and he’d more or less moved on, Luka still felt fondness and protectiveness towards her. “Is this something I should be worried about? I know Marinette can hold her own sober, but…”

Adrien quickly shook his head. “She’s not _that_ drunk. And she should be okay. She’s with Kim, Alix, Ivan, and Mylène. Last I saw, she was putting everyone to shame in arm wrestling.”

Luka couldn’t help a laugh. “Yeah. That’s my girl, all right.”

Adrien’s eyes narrowed as his heartbeat increased nervously. “‘ _Your_ ’ girl? Are you two…?”

“Oh. No,” Luka assured, frowning and shaking his head. “It’s just an expression. Marinette and I are…well…not _nothing_ , but…”

Seeing the confusion and worry in Adrien’s slightly unfocused gaze, Luka cut to the chase, “We’re friends. Nothing romantic.”

“Oh,” Adrien exhaled some of the tension. “Okay. Gotcha.”

He picked up his glass and drained it, contemplating for a second the idea of licking the chocolate sauce from the inside of the rim. Would that be sexy or slovenly? He could feel the alcohol starting to work on him, and he couldn’t make up his mind.

He just wanted Luka to stop asking about Adrien’s friends and go back to looking at him like Luka was wondering if Adrien wore boxers or briefs and was tempted to find out from personal experience.

“Is there anyone else you could hang out with?” Luka kept the questions going.

Adrien shrugged. “Aurore and Mireille wanted me to play beer pong with them, but, as we’ve established, beer is nasty, and, besides, all I need is for one picture of me playing to get posted on the internet, and the media will make it out that I’ve been corrupted and have a drinking problem,” he sighed, resting the side of his face in his palm.

Luka winced. “I’m really sorry. Being a celebrity must suck.”

“Yeah,” Adrien mumbled, starting to feel sad again.

“Was there anyone else up there not drinking that you could hang with?” Luka tried again.

Adrien shrugged once more. “Marc and Nathaniel aren’t big drinkers, but they were busy making out, so…but I didn’t come down here because there was no one to hang with, so it doesn’t matter.”

“No?” Luka hummed curiously.

“I was feeling…well, sad…disconnected. I didn’t want to be around my friends anymore,” Adrien admitted, sneaking a glance at Luka.

Luka leaned in. “Why’s that?”

Adrien pursed his lips and really thought about it. It took him a while to knit together his response. “Everyone kept saying what a great party it was, and, I mean, I _was_ having fun. I thought it was all right. Dancing was fun, but the beer Nino handed me was gross, so I didn’t drink any of it. Everyone else did, though. Like I said before, they chugged the stuff…so everyone got more and more intoxicated and started acting kind of goofy, and I thought, ‘This isn’t fun. This is kind of dumb. I mean, who wants to lose control and act ridiculous and embarrass themselves like that?’”

Adrien took a deep breath, reorienting himself, and Luka waited patiently for him to continue, nodding to show he was listening and could understand what Adrien was saying.

“So…I wasn’t having fun anymore, and Nino kind of noticed. He tried to get me to drink, but I made some excuse, and he backed off after I said no twice.” Adrien looked down and nervously twisted the silver ring on his right hand. “I don’t know. I felt really…not left out or excluded, but…just different…like I couldn’t relate. I used to feel that way a lot when I first started school, but it’s been a lot better these past few years since I’ve been hanging out with people my own age and learning about what ‘normal’ looks like for them. It’s been better.”

Adrien fell silent, fidgeting as he looked down at his empty glass. “It kind of scared me, feeling like an alien again, suddenly not being in sync anymore.”

Tentatively, Luka reached out and rested a hand on Adrien’s shoulder, rubbing gently.

Adrien leaned into the touch. “Everyone kept saying it was a great party, but I wasn’t having fun. I didn’t like how I felt…like there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t feel the way everyone else was feeling.”

Luka squeezed Adrien’s shoulder, trying to comfort him.

“Nino said that when we got to university, we were going to do this all the time, and I asked,” Adrien winced at the memory. “I asked…what about studying, and Nino laughed like I was joking…but I wasn’t joking. When he realized that, he gave me a funny look, but then he smiled and said we’d do that too when we got around to it, but…” Adrien swallowed, forcing himself to go on. “He said I was adorable…like I’d said something funny. Like I was a little kid who didn’t really get it. My-My father makes me feel like that a lot.”

Adrien sniffled, no longer able to hold back the tears. They paraded down his cheeks silently as he began to tremble, partially from the effort of trying to control himself.

“You look like you could use a hug,” Luka gently observed. “Would you like a hug, or would that be weird for you?”

“If you’re offering,” Adrien replied, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.

“Come here.” Luka stood and then helped Adrien to his feet before drawing him into his arms. “It’s okay,” Luka cooed. “I get it. I know that had to suck, your best friend making you feel like that, even if it wasn’t intentional,” he whispered into Adrien’s hair, rubbing a hand soothingly up and down Adrien’s back.

Adrien nodded into Luka’s shoulder. “It felt really bad.”

“It’s going to be okay, Adrien,” Luka promised, willing it to be true. “I know it might not feel like that now, but…this is all a part of growing up. Some people you stay friends with for life. Other people, you grow apart as you get older and you start making different choices about who you want to be.”

Adrien flinched at that.

“I’m not saying that you and Nino are the latter,” Luka quickly added. “Maybe this is just a bump in the relationship. That happens too. Some people drift away for a bit and then come back to one another. You’re just at an age right now where people grow and change pretty quickly as they try new things and figure out who they are.”

“But Nino’s my best friend,” Adrien hiccupped. “He’s the one who really gets me, you know? And now the past few months, he’s just…sometimes he’s the same old Nino, but other times, like tonight, I look at him, and I’m like, ‘Who even are you?’ …Has that ever happened to you?”

Luka gave Adrien a squeeze. “It was kind of like that with my friend Pierre-Benoit. He went really crazy when he first became an official adult. It was like this guy I had known my whole life suddenly was a stranger to me, so I can relate. He calmed down recently, and we’re hanging out again. It’s not like it was before, but we’re rebuilding. Actually, a lot of my friends went kind of wild when we all turned eighteen. I think all the sudden freedoms just go to people’s heads, and they start experimenting. They party really hard the first year of uni, but then they figure out that that’s not something they want to be doing all the time. Like I said before, you’re just in a rough patch right now. All you can do is ride it out.”

“How?” Adrien sighed, relaxing a bit and really sinking into Luka.

Luka kept rubbing Adrien’s back with one hand while the fingers of the other snaked through his hair, massaging Adrien’s scalp. “Well, you’ll meet new people in university, so once that starts up in the autumn, you can focus on making friends with similar interests. Françoise Dupont isn’t a big school, but at uni you’ll have a lot of people to choose from. Maybe some of those people will eventually become just as close and precious to you as Nino is. Until then, just focus on yourself, what makes you happy, what you like to do. Don’t go drinking with friends if you don’t like being around them when they’re drunk. Try to organize hang outs that preclude drinking,” Luka advised, trying to remember everything he wished someone had told him when he’d gone through a similar experience.

“Don’t give up on your current friendships just because they’re not everything you want them to be at the moment,” he added gently, trying to encourage Adrien. “Maybe this is just a phase they’re all going through and in a couple years you’ll all look back and laugh and say, ‘Man that was dumb’. Hope for the best for the future, but, in the meantime, spend time with people who make you feel good.”

“…You…make me feel good,” Adrien replied tentatively. “…Could _we_ maybe hang out more?”

“I’d like that,” Luka chuckled, broad smile evident in his voice as he gave Adrien a squeeze. “…Wanna go sit on the couch? We can still cuddle, if you want.”

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed. “I think that would be good. I’m feeling a little unsteady. I guess this is being tipsy?”

“Could be,” Luka responded, guiding Adrien over to the couch. “How do you like it?”

Adrien hummed pensively, taking a seat and then readjusting, curling up against Luka’s side as Luka wrapped an arm around him. “I don’t know. My body feels kind of heavy and awkward, so that’s not good, and my thoughts are a little…slippery. Like, they keep sliding away when I try to grab them, but I do feel kind of relaxed, like nothing is really a big deal, so that’s nice…. I don’t think I should do this often, though.”

“Yeah.” Luka nodded. “Probably not.”

Adrien was quiet for a bit, just enjoying Luka’s warmth and the feeling of another body pressed to his. “…Thank you for doing this for me,” he whispered.

Luka gave Adrien’s hair a nuzzle. “Sure thing. It’s important to have a safe space to experiment. I want you to be safe, so I’m happy to be there for you.”

Adrien found his heart fluttering again. He turned his head so that his nose rested against Luka’s collarbone and surreptitiously breathed in Luka’s pine scent. “I like this,” Adrien mumbled. “My mother used to hug me, but I don’t get hugs much now. Can we do this again sometime when I’m not tipsy and sad about being different from my friends? Would that be weird?”

“It wouldn’t have to be weird if we didn’t make it weird,” Luka decided. If Adrien needed more physical affection, especially now when he was feeling disconnected from the others, Luka could platonically snuggle with Adrien. It would be a little frustrating for Luka what with his feelings for Adrien, but if Adrien needed him to be there for him as a friend, Luka could manage.

“You’re really awesome,” Adrien sighed. “How are you so awesome?”

“I think awesomeness is in the eye of the beholder,” Luka chuckled ironically, mouth pulling into a pinched smile. “Not everyone thinks I’m all that great. People think I’m too quiet or too boring or too weird. I don’t mesh well with everyone.”

“You mesh with me,” Adrien pointed out. “We mesh well together.”

“Yeah. We do,” Luka confirmed, amusedly noting that, yes, Adrien was a little tipsy, and it was kind of cute.

“I think you’re awesome,” Adrien reiterated. “I mean, you’re not that much older than I am, but you seem like you have everything all figure out. You always say really smart things. Somehow, you just know what to do, and your advice is always really good.”

Luka shrugged. “I just have a lot of life experience to draw from. I mean, I’ve been an adult-in-training since I was ten, so I’ve got a head start on most people. I don’t think it’s anything special about me.”

Adrien raised his head and looked Luka intently in the eyes, suddenly not seeming quite so intoxicated. “Yes, it is. You _are_ special, Luka. You’re really patient and kind. You’re an extremely caring person, and you never make me feel bad about myself when I don’t know something. Like two summers ago when Rose was trying to teach me to use a kitchen, she was nice and patient, but whenever I didn’t get something she thought was basic or common knowledge, she’d make this face, and I felt really dumb, but then you would come over and explain and guide me through it, and you never made me feel bad for not getting it right away.”

Luka remembered that incident. Rose had been teaching Adrien about the different kinds of knives and how to cut various foods properly, and Adrien had had some trouble. Luka hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, so he was surprised that the event had made such a big impact on Adrien.

Adrien blushed a bit—whether it was from embarrassment or the alcohol, Luka couldn’t tell—smiling shyly. “Even though you’re a lot more mature than I am, you don’t make me feel bad like other people do,” he continued but then seemed to reconsider for a moment. He quickly amended, “Well, I mean, earlier tonight I was feeling really insecure, so you weren’t making me feel good about myself at first, but…I feel better now. Because of _you_.”

Peridot eyes bore into Luka expectantly, making Luka’s mouth feel dry.

Adrien had no idea how beautiful he was, or, if he did, he was being extremely unfair using his charms on Luka when all Luka could do was support Adrien as a friend.

“I’m glad,” Luka breathed, reaching out to stroke Adrien’s cheek with a knuckle.

Adrien’s eyes flickered down to Luka’s lips, and the bottom dropped out of Luka’s stomach.

Looking back up, Adrien found Luka’s eyes wide, and Luka gulped as he licked his own lips.

Adrien thought about kissing him. Luka seemed…not opposed to the idea…but…what if Adrien was reading things wrong? Adrien was comfortable and happy now snuggling with Luka and having Luka say nice things as Adrien talked. Should he risk that in an attempt to get more? Would a kiss now ruin things in the future? Adrien didn’t feel _too_ drunk, but he didn’t know how much the alcohol had skewed his perceptions.

“I feel like such a kid sometimes,” Adrien admitted, pulling them out of the moment a little. He still gazed into Luka’s eyes from about a handspan away, and Luka still cupped his cheek, but it wasn’t as intense and lust-driven as it had been the second before.

“Why’s that?” Luka inquired softly.

“Because I’m so behind all my friends,” Adrien sighed, leaning into Luka’s touch. “They all know what they want, where they’re going. Alya’s wanted to be a journalist since I’ve known her, and Marinette’s been designing since she was little. Nino’s always been into movies and music, so going into cinema was a logical next step for him. For me…” Adrien sank his teeth into his bottom lip. “…I’ve never had anything like that. I don’t _want_ to study business and run my father’s company. Modeling is fine, but it’s not my passion. I don’t have a career I’m excited about. I don’t have…” He swallowed, eyes dropping to Luka’s shirt. “I don’t have a future I’m looking forward to.”

“Then it sounds like university is the right place for you,” Luka remarked.

Adrien looked back up and blinked. “How do you figure?”

“You’ll meet all kinds of new people, have a bunch of new opportunities. A lot of people go into uni not knowing exactly what they want to do,” Luka assured. “University is the time to take a bunch of different courses to satisfy the general education requirements, like, Geology or Astronomy for science. Take a creative writing class, an East Asian Studies class for your History requirement. Take a class on Gender and Women’s Studies. Take an acting class. Join a bunch of different clubs like Model UN or the Stamp Club or an acapella group or the knitting circle,” he named off the top of his head as they came to him.

“Try a class on Russian literature,” he went on. “Take up a new language for the foreign language requirement. Maybe something like Korean or Latin. Just…try a bunch of new things. University is the time to find out what you like, so don’t feel like everyone’s way ahead of you. I mean… _I_ just added Piano and Violin Performance majors starting this year, and I’m supposedly halfway through university, so…it’s not too late for you to find what you have a passion for. You’ll figure it out before long; there’s plenty of time, so no need to rush yourself,” he coaxed, hoping that some part of what he had said stuck with Adrien and helped get him through this rough patch.

Adrien nodded, beginning to feel excited for university for the first time. Up until that point, he’d thought of it as being forced to study something he wasn’t really interested in, but…the way Luka described it…university sounded kind of fun. A lot of the things Luka had listed sounded like fun.

“An acting class,” Adrien mumbled, rolling the idea around.

“That sound appealing?” Luka hummed, still running his knuckle up and down Adrien’s jawline.

Adrien nodded. “My mother was an actress. Mostly stage plays, but she did a little opera and musicals too. I grew up backstage. I…I wouldn’t mind acting again. It was always fun when I did roles as a child.”

“You and Rose are going to the same school, and she’s in the acting program. Maybe you two could talk about it, see if it sounds like something you’re interested in,” Luka suggested, eager to help Adrien figure things out.

A wide grin blossomed on Adrien’s lips, lighting up his eyes so that they shone like sunlight diffused through verdant spring tree leaves. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Luka assured, returning the smile with a slightly smitten one of his own. “What else is on your mind? Anything I can help you sort through or anything you just want to talk out?”

Adrien gulped and licked his lips nervously. “Well…mostly…the other thing that makes me feel like a kid, like I’m so far behind everyone else is…” He looked away, teeth nibbling at his bottom lip. “A lot of my friends have already found the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with. It’s not just Nino and Alya. There’s Ivan and Mylène, Marc and Nathaniel, Rose and Juleka, Kim and Ondine and Alix… Everybody’s having sex and planning their futures together and doing all kinds of adult things, and I…” Adrien pursed his lips in frustration, mumbling, “It’s never worked out with anyone I’ve been interested in.”

Things with Kagami had crashed and burned because Adrien hadn’t been over Ladybug, Ladybug had made it clear that, even though Chat Noir was special and precious to her, she had romantic feelings for someone else, and Adrien’s feelings for Marinette had never gotten off the ground because Marinette had been harboring a major crush on someone else for as long as Adrien had known her.

And then there was Luka…whom Adrien hadn’t ever allowed himself to seriously consider because how the heck was that even going to work? What would Luka even see in Adrien?

“That doesn’t mean it never will work out,” Luka assured. “Don’t give up hope.”

Adrien sighed, focusing on the sensations of Luka’s hand on his face. “It’s hard, though. When the majority of the people around me are already coupled, being single sucks. It’s easy to lose faith that someday my pr—…”

“…‘Prince will come’?” Luka finished tentatively, plucking the end of the line from Adrien’s head.

Adrien blushed and nodded, avoiding Luka’s eyes. “Yeah. Something like that.”

“I feel ya,” Luka whispered sympathetically. “I mean, look at me. I’m going to be twenty-one before the year is out, and every relationship I’ve ever been in has ended in failure, so I get where you’re coming from.”

Adrien gathered his courage and forced himself to meet Luka’s gaze. “Thanks. I…I’m glad to know I’m not the only one, but…” He swallowed. “…at least you know for sure you’re bi. I’m still trying to figure out if I like other guys in general or if it really is only you who makes me question my sexuality.”

Luka’s mouth dropped open, and his hand went still on Adrien’s cheek. He…hadn’t been expecting that.

Adrien pressed on. “At least you’ve known what it’s like to have your feelings reciprocated. I’m not counting the mess with Kagami, so I’ve never been in a real relationship before. I don’t know what it’s like to be kissed, so…seeing other people planning the future together makes me despair a little on the inside because I don’t know what it feels like to be happily in love.”

Luka’s hand dropped away from Adrien’s cheek, going around behind him to pull Adrien into another hug. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into Adrien’s hair. “I would make it all better for you if I could…. I wish I could.”

Adrien relaxed into the hug, heart and stomach fluttering once again.

“I remember what it was like when I was questioning, how scary and alone that felt. I didn’t have any gay or bi role models to ask questions or advice, so…I don’t want it to be like that for you.” Luka ran a hand up through Adrien’s hair. “If you ever need to talk to someone, I’m here. If there’s anything you don’t feel comfortable asking me about, I can put you in contact with other people, get you information about resources for whatever you need, okay?”

Luka wondered if it was weird to offer to be someone’s mentor when someone basically told you they were attracted to you, but he reasoned that the most important thing was to make sure that Adrien knew he had Luka’s support no matter what.

Adrien had gone tense in Luka’s arms, and Luka could feel silent tears soaking into his shirt.

Internally, Luka cursed himself for being insensitive. He knew Adrien didn’t have any adults in his life that he really trusted. Maybe Adrien had spoken with Nino about his confusion concerning his sexuality but maybe not. Maybe this was the first time Adrien had ever tried to come out to anyone.

And Luka had bypassed the confession in favour of offering resources and information, as if Adrien had a problem for which he needed a support group.

It had probably sounded like Luka was trying to avoid the fact that Adrien had admitted that he was attracted to Luka.

It probably felt like a rejection.

Luka thought back to the first time he had ever gathered up the courage to tell a guy how he felt. He imagined what it would have felt like to have his confession ignored like that, his feelings pushed aside, and an offer of help and support given instead of an answer.

Luka would have been crushed.

All of this passed through Luka’s mind in an instant, but it felt like hours to Adrien.

“Thanks,” Adrien replied hollowly. “Sorry. I don’t know why I said that. That was really dumb and way too personal. Sorry. I’m-I’m kind of drunk.”

He pulled back, hiding his face as he scooted away from Luka, trying to get to his feet but still a little off balance. “I should go. Thank you for your time.”

“W-Wait.” Luka finally shook off his spiraling thoughts and found his voice. He reached out and took Adrien by the arm. “I am so sorry. I know that’s not the kind of thing you want to hear when you tell a guy you’re attracted to him.”

“No, it’s not,” Adrien mumbled, trying to pull his arm free but finding himself weakened in his tipsy state. “Now, if you could let go, I’d kind of like to leave before I say anything else mortifying.”

Luka pulled Adrien back so that he tripped, landing partially on Luka’s lap.

They both gave a grunt at the impact.

Before Adrien could try to escape again, Luka wrapped his arms around him from behind. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against Adrien’s neck, planting a butterfly kiss there. “I’ve been trying so hard to keep things platonic and be there to support you as a _friend_ , so it didn’t click right away that I needed to respond as a _guy_ for that one…a guy who finds you exceptionally, painfully attractive.” He pressed his lips to the juncture of Adrien’s neck and shoulder.

“Oh,” Adrien whispered, voice getting stuck in his throat as his whole body thrummed in excitement.

“Yeah,” Luka sighed. “…So…you mentioned not knowing what it felt like to be kissed earlier.”

Adrien stiffened. “Y-Yeah?”

“Would you like to find out?” Luka offered, fully expecting to suffer the sting of rejection himself. “I know it wouldn’t be the most romantic kiss ever, but at least it would be with someone who cares about you and wants to make it all about you.”

Adrien gulped. “Okay, but…could we maybe go to your room? The last thing I need is someone stumbling in on me in your lap with my tongue down your throat,” he muttered, a rosy blush spilling from his cheeks down his neck.

“As you wish,” Luka assured, giving Adrien one last affectionate squeeze before beginning to untangle their limbs.

He took Adrien by the hand, helped him up, and guided him to Luka’s room where he locked the door behind them. “There. Now no one will walk in on us. Perfectly safe.”

“Thanks,” Adrien sighed in relief, fiddling with his ring again.

“Sure. Lights on or off?”

Adrien looked around, taking in Luka’s bedroom lit only by the silvery glow of the moon. “Off,” he decided. “The moonlight is kind of romantic.”

Luka nodded his approval and slowly made his way over to Adrien standing next to the bed. He smiled affectionately. “Ready?”

Adrien gulped, stepping in closer. “Th-Thank you,” he blurted out and then clarified, “For doing this, for being so awesome, for…being you.”

“Thank you for trusting me.” Luka reached out and gently stroked Adrien’s cheek, his other hand going to rest on Adrien’s hip. “Ready?” he whispered again.

Adrien wrapped his arms around Luka’s waist, pulling them flush together. He tipped up his chin and whispered, “Yes” like a gentle summer breeze barely stirring the petals of the flowers.

Luka tilted his head, coming down the four inches difference to press his lips lightly to Adrien’s, taking it slow.

Adrien pressed back experimentally, returning the kiss timidly.

Cautiously, Luka’s lips began to move.

It was so, so hard to control himself when all he wanted to do was kiss Adrien passionately until he stole the breath from Adrien’s lungs. He forced himself to keep in mind that this was for _Adrien_ , and it needed to be about what Adrien wanted, what Adrien needed. Luka was definitely benefitting from this arrangement, but _Adrien_ was the focus.

Slowly, Adrien picked up on what Luka’s lips were doing, and his own lips began to move in sync. He changed the angle of his head, pressed a little more insistently, and began to grip at the back of Luka’s shirt, hands moving up to Luka’s shoulder blades.

Pretty soon, Adrien was the one directing the kiss, and Luka was more than happy to follow Adrien’s lead.

One long, languid kiss became dozens of shorter, more heated ones.

Luka’s hand moved from Adrien’s jaw to Adrien’s hair, causing a pleasure-filled purr to vibrate against Luka’s lips.

Before Luka knew it, the kiss had deepened, turning more frenetic as hands started to roam, bodies pressed together, and Luka found the backs of his thighs pressed up against his mattress.

Adrien reluctantly broke the kiss to gasp, “Bed?”, wanting to get permission before he pushed Luka down and mauled him.

Adrien’s pupils were blown wide, and his hair was mussed from Luka’s hands having their way with it. He looked wild and so, so beautiful.

Luka very much wanted to get pushed down and mauled by this gorgeous creature he’d been adoring in secret for years.

“Bed,” Luka confirmed.

They slipped off their shoes, and clamored up onto the mattress, Adrien on top, savaging Luka’s mouth.

Luka tried to keep up, throwing caution out the window. Adrien didn’t need Luka worrying about making this pleasurable for Adrien. He was taking care of that himself, freeing Luka up to simply lose himself in Adrien’s lips.

The pressure and intensity continued to build between them until one of Luka’s hands accidentally found its way to Adrien’s butt and squeezed.

Adrien moaned into Luka’s lips, his hips giving a reflexive buck.

Luka hissed at the unexpected contact, instinctively starting to return the thrust.

Thankfully, his mind rebooted at that moment, and he stopped, hands going to Adrien’s hips to keep them still.

He turned his head, breaking the kiss. “S-Stop.”

Adrien gave a needy whimper.

“Shhh,” Luka tried to appease. “I know. I know, but, trust me, you don’t want to cross that line tonight. It’s one thing to experiment with kissing a guy, but it’s another thing to start messing around. I don’t want you making these kinds of decisions when you’re tipsy and turned on.”

Adrien growled softly into Luka’s shoulder, giving the skin there a sullen bite.

“Shhh. Take some deep breaths and calm down,” Luka instructed through gritted teeth as Adrien used Luka’s shoulder as a chew toy. “I’m sorry. I got caught up in the kiss. I shouldn’t have let things get so carried away. I was supposed to be taking care of you.”

“There’s still time for that,” Adrien groaned.

Luka sighed, carefully rolling Adrien off of him and sitting up.

Adrien gazed up at him miserably.

A pained smile rolled across Luka’s lips and scrunched up his brow. “I’m sorry.”

Adrien averted his eyes, mumbling, “Yeah. Me too.”

“Hey,” Luka called softly, stroking Adrien’s cheek with a knuckle. “I’m not sorry that the kiss happened. You are _phenomenal_.”

The tips of Adrien’s ears started to burn red. He chanced a glance at Luka. “Really?”

“Easily one of my top ten kisses. I’m sorry that I let things get out of hand. We just went a bit too far for right now,” Luka explained, leaning in to give Adrien’s forehead a kiss.

Adrien’s whole face flushed. “For right now?” he echoed hopefully.

Luka nodded. “Just for right now. Not necessarily for always.”

“Oh,” Adrien replied with a burgeoning smile, starting to feel a bit better. “Okay.”

Luka reached down to cup Adrien’s cheek, his thumb moving slowly back and forth. “…How are you feeling?”

Adrien looked at Luka’s hand instead of his face as he muttered, “Frustrated. Uncomfortable.”

“Yeah,” Luka sighed sympathetically. “…There’s a bathroom through that door, if you like. And, if you want, when you get back, we can make out some more.”

Adrien’s eyes lit up. “Yeah?”

Luka grinned. “Yeah, so long as we take the intensity down a few notches. Okay?”

Adrien thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “Okay.

When Adrien returned, Luka pulled him back down on the bed and proceeded to pepper his face and neck with tender kisses. They discovered that Adrien really enjoyed Luka playing with his hair and working his ears over with Luka’s tongue.

The leisurely exchange of kisses gradually tapered off, and Luka went back to stroking Adrien’s face adoringly as they stared into one another’s eyes.

“Doing okay?” Luka whispered.

Adrien bit his lip. “I…have something I should have told you before I kissed you. I feel really guilty that I didn’t say anything. I should have—”

“—Shhh,” Luka cut him off with a finger pressed to Adrien’s lips. “It’s okay,” he assured patiently even though his heart was beating nervously at this revelation. “Tell me now.”

Adrien gulped. “I know you’re just doing this as a kind of favour and because you think I’m attractive, but…when I said I was attracted to you, that wasn’t the whole truth.”

Luka’s eyes widened, and he held his breath.

“The truth is, I don’t just think you’re attractive. This isn’t just a physical thing for me. It’s not just lust. Luka…I really like you,” Adrien whispered, tears gather in the corners of his eyes once more. “I really, really like you, and I have for a _long_ time. I’m sorry I tricked you into kissing me.”

“Oh, Angel,” Luka breathed, dropping his forehead to Adrien’s and rubbing their noses together. “Shhh.” He pulled back and smiled lovingly down at Adrien. “I have had a massive crush on you since you tripped into my life four years ago. If you had given me any excuse to kiss you at any point in time where I was single, I would have gladly seized the opportunity.”

“Oh,” Adrien replied in a daze. “You’re single now, right?”

“Mmhm…unless you want to put an end to that,” Luka answered suggestively.

“Gladly,” Adrien chuckled gleefully, a broad grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. “Do you want to be my boyfriend?”

“More than anything,” Luka breathed, leaning in for a slightly longer kiss. Pulling back he whispered, “Can you stay the night?”

Adrien quirked an eyebrow. “I thought we weren’t going there tonight?”

Luka grimaced. “Sorry. I meant stay the night in a…well, not an entirely _platonic manner_ , but…I just want to sleep with you in my arms and be able to kiss you good morning tomorrow. You snuck out for the party, right? So no one’s waiting up at home?”

“Right,” Adrien confirmed, considering.

“And then maybe I could take you out for ice cream tomorrow?” Luka bribed.

Adrien immediately perked up. “Ice cream?”

Luka nodded. “However much you want. Whatever flavors.”

Adrien smirked. “You’re going to ruin my figure.”

Luka clicked his tongue dismissively. “I’ll still love you, even if you get fat.”

Adrien’s eyes flew wide as he gasped. “L-Love me? You…love me?” he inquired reverently.

Luka blushed a vibrant vermillion, averting his eyes as he mumbled, “You’re really easy to fall for. I didn’t stand a chance against you.”

Adrien grabbed Luka’s face and smashed their lips together, kissing Luka every bit as passionately as he did sloppily. When he pulled back, he breathed, “Thank you…for loving me. I’m…I’m not used to that. People don’t—They just don’t love _me_. They love my image, but…you mean _me_ , don’t you? If you can say you love me after seeing what a mess I am, listening to all the things I had to say before about my friends and being sad and feeling different… You really mean it, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Luka replied with conviction. “And I’m going to keep reminding you until it’s not such a shock to hear it.”

“I’d like that,” Adrien chuckled as Luka pulled him into his chest in a tight hug. “…and ice cream.”

“All the ice cream you want,” Luka promised.

The

End

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the story. It's actually partially based on my own experiences starting uni. I had been friends with a group of girls since we were five, and then all of the sudden we were legally adults, and they started partying and drinking and sleeping with people, and I was like, "Who even are you, and what have you done with my friends?" I felt really disconnected from them, and we never really grew as close again as we had been, but now they've calmed down and realized that who they were becoming was not who they wanted to be. We talk a couple times a year, but they're not my close friends anymore. I really didn't expect to be writing about this. ^.^; I hadn't realized that it bothered me still. At the time I felt really betrayed and alone, and I didn't have anyone to tell me that it was a normal experience and part of growing up.
> 
> Anyway. It should be noted that the legal drinking age in France is eighteen, so the characters are NOT drinking underage in their country. It should also be noted that I don't drink and never have, so I'm totally faking it whenever I portray a character drunk/tipsy. I have Juvenile Diabetes, and sometimes my blood sugar goes low and I feel really funny and discombobulated. That's what I'm basing my portrayal on.
> 
> Random note: I finally used the description of sunlight diffused through tree leaves for the colour of Adrien's eyes. My friend Mireille and I were talking about this in the autumn; there are words in Japanese for sunlight filtering through trees 木漏れ日 (komorebi) or leaves 葉洩れ日 (hamorebi).
> 
> Well, I hope you liked the story. Thank you very much for reading, and I hope to see you again soon.
> 
> Come talk to me on Tumblr: https://mikauzoran.tumblr.com/
> 
> References:  
> Serial Music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serialism  
> Milton Babbitt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wmvX_RVvjk


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